Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
I'm 30 years old and I can finally say 'I remember when.'
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Crazy, Stupid, Love Review PG-13
Plot: When his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) says she wants a divorce (and having an affair) the life a successful family man, Cal (Steve Carell) seems hopeless until he unwillingly becomes the 'wingman' to a local playboy at local bar named Jacob (Ryan Gosling).
Review: While the comedy is still at the center of this movie, the first thing that jumped out at me was a surprisingly dramatic performance from Steve Carell, he still pulls of some of his best comedy to date and he may never win an Academy Award, but there's a level of depth that you don't usually see from him and his on screen chemistry with Moore during their arguments comes off painfully.
The plot itself weaves the supporting characters in and out of his life really well and I didn't see how many of them related to Cal until the very end. In spite of the cast having some fantastic actors, most notably Emma Stone, Marrisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon, none of them steal the show and the plot stays squarely on its two frayed characters. The only problem at all with this movie is the character Bernie (John Carrol Lynch). I don't know if his performance was meant to be that over the top or if it was written that way, but he ultimately weakens what would've been a fantastic ending.
In the end: In spite of a few bumps, the is a wonderful story about how we can take the best things for granted and what we do to get them back.
Grade: B+
Review: While the comedy is still at the center of this movie, the first thing that jumped out at me was a surprisingly dramatic performance from Steve Carell, he still pulls of some of his best comedy to date and he may never win an Academy Award, but there's a level of depth that you don't usually see from him and his on screen chemistry with Moore during their arguments comes off painfully.
The plot itself weaves the supporting characters in and out of his life really well and I didn't see how many of them related to Cal until the very end. In spite of the cast having some fantastic actors, most notably Emma Stone, Marrisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon, none of them steal the show and the plot stays squarely on its two frayed characters. The only problem at all with this movie is the character Bernie (John Carrol Lynch). I don't know if his performance was meant to be that over the top or if it was written that way, but he ultimately weakens what would've been a fantastic ending.
In the end: In spite of a few bumps, the is a wonderful story about how we can take the best things for granted and what we do to get them back.
Grade: B+
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Cowboys and Aliens Review
Plot: In 1873, the Arizona territory, as a man with no memory of his life pieces together his past he discovers he may be the key to preventing an impending alien invasion which threatens the small town of Absolution and possibly the world.
Review: Right off the bat, without knowing a single thing about it, the title got my attention. Cowboys and Aliens. I'd heard it was based on an independent comic that caught the attention of Hollywood heavy hitters, but not much else. Then I heard who was involved in the movie. Spielberg, Howard, Craig, Ford. A laundry list of award winners and Hollywood A-listers. I was determined to see it even before the first trailer debuted. And I wasn't disappointed when I did. The film blends the tricky combination of a classic western tone and an authentic alien invasion movie perfectly. The costumes, classic western town and people, the advanced alien technology and creepy aliens. The Outlaw Josey Wales. Tombstone. 3:10 to Yuma. Aliens. War of the Worlds. The movie never once loses the authenticity of either genre and when the two come together it feels natural and it's an absolute blast to watch! The only thing anyone might see wrong with the story is the lack of detail in the motivation for the invasion. It's not really a flaw, just a minor quibble for people that doesn't ruin the thrill of the movie.
With the exception of Daniel Craig, the entire cast makes sense for a movie like this. Most notably Harrison Ford. But Craig never loses sight of the 'man with no name ' outlaw. He embodies the loner cowboy completely from beginning to end. Harrison Ford, on the other hand, shows some minor missteps with his character, where he teeters slightly on the edge of campy without going over, so he's extremely fun to watch, but his borderline to a cliche without becoming one during the movie. The supporting cast rounds out the authenticity of the tone, from the sheriff, the barman, the thugs to the native american tribes.
In the end: This is a fantastic, original comic based film in a summer loaded down with quality superheroes. If you love westerns, if you love alien invasions, you won't be disappointed.
Grade: A-
Review: Right off the bat, without knowing a single thing about it, the title got my attention. Cowboys and Aliens. I'd heard it was based on an independent comic that caught the attention of Hollywood heavy hitters, but not much else. Then I heard who was involved in the movie. Spielberg, Howard, Craig, Ford. A laundry list of award winners and Hollywood A-listers. I was determined to see it even before the first trailer debuted. And I wasn't disappointed when I did. The film blends the tricky combination of a classic western tone and an authentic alien invasion movie perfectly. The costumes, classic western town and people, the advanced alien technology and creepy aliens. The Outlaw Josey Wales. Tombstone. 3:10 to Yuma. Aliens. War of the Worlds. The movie never once loses the authenticity of either genre and when the two come together it feels natural and it's an absolute blast to watch! The only thing anyone might see wrong with the story is the lack of detail in the motivation for the invasion. It's not really a flaw, just a minor quibble for people that doesn't ruin the thrill of the movie.
With the exception of Daniel Craig, the entire cast makes sense for a movie like this. Most notably Harrison Ford. But Craig never loses sight of the 'man with no name ' outlaw. He embodies the loner cowboy completely from beginning to end. Harrison Ford, on the other hand, shows some minor missteps with his character, where he teeters slightly on the edge of campy without going over, so he's extremely fun to watch, but his borderline to a cliche without becoming one during the movie. The supporting cast rounds out the authenticity of the tone, from the sheriff, the barman, the thugs to the native american tribes.
In the end: This is a fantastic, original comic based film in a summer loaded down with quality superheroes. If you love westerns, if you love alien invasions, you won't be disappointed.
Grade: A-
Friday, August 19, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Comicbook Characters With Disabilities: Professor Charles Xavier (1963), Daredevil/ Matt Murdock (1964), Oracle/ Barbara Gordon (Batgirl 1966. Oracle 1988), Forge (1984), Soldier Zero (2011), Venom/Flash Thompson (2011)
When Xmen #1 debuted introducing the comic world to Charles Xavier (a paraplegic telepath) and his five mutant students, addressing the characters' disability was overshadowed (even now) in lieu of the story's larger themes of racial discrimination. He (and the other characters) was created by Stan Lee created a dynamic character for that reason alone, but unintentionally glossed over one of the biggest details that made him original, his disability and the psychological effects of the alien attack that left him that way.
In spite of the Daredevil's blindness being a front and center trait, it was portrayed as important only in that he had overcome disability in his civilian life as Matt Murdock to become a successful attorney. In the last decade it has become an aspect of his character development (central or not) more frequently, even being some of the funnier parts of the film adaptation.
The original Batgirl was never considered a very significant ally to Batman, but when Barbara Gordon was shot in the back by the Joker her injury made her more popular and even gave her a more significant role in the Batman storylines as Oracle, known for expertise in computer hacking and information gathering.
Friday, August 12, 2011
My Batman Beyond Fancast
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| Judging from his performance in Tron: Legacy, Hedlund has all the skills necessary to bring Terry to life on screen: a strong internal conflict drawn from his past and his personal life, tech-savvy intelligence not to mention an appearance and physique much like the character himself. |
Brian Cranston's Emmy winning performance as a teacher-turned-drug dealer on Breaking Bad makes him the perfect man to play Warren McGinnis, a scientist whose growing obsession with his career destroys his marriage and his relationship with his own children.
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| Hugh Laurie's Emmy winning smug and arrogant performance on House makes him perfect for Bruce Wayne's business partner-turned-arms dealer, Derek Powers. |
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| After a roles in Avatar and the upcoming series Terra Nova, Tomy Award winner Stephen Lang is no stranger to science fiction and action, but his dramatic skills could make the role of a retired Dark Knight convincing to an audience unfamiliar with Batman Beyond. |
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Why Joss Whedon may be the perfect choice as the director and writer of the Avengers
Ever since the announcement at last years San Diego Comicon, there's been firestorm of debate as to whether or not Marvel Productions' choice to approach Joss Whedon to helm easily the riskiest project in the history of comic related films was a smart move: taking 4 successful Marvel film franchises, putting them under the umbrella of a single title, The Avengers. The guy who did Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel? Really? Yes, really. The guy who produced, wrote and directed a short lived sciencefiction/western called Firefly which had gained such a cult following by the time it was canceled that he got a chance to make a boxoffice success called Serenity? Yes. He's perfect for the job. In his film and tv work Whedon probably had to spend his time multitasking between a large cast, writing-editing-rewriting scripts, maintaining a sense of continuity between television episodes and film scenes while providing larger than life yet relateable characters. He's done that and with a sense of humor that's practically become a trademark of his work. He even has lesser known writing credits for Toy Story and Titan A.E and an uncredited draft of Twister. But most of this is all general knowledge for tv and filmwatchers. The biggest reason he'll pull it off is his work in comics.
In 2005 he started what has become one of the most successful ongoing Xmen titles in years: The Astonishing Xmen. He's managed to bring all his experiences in film production to the pages of a popular comic, monthly deadlines, maintaining plotlines, juggling and developing a large cast and his sense of humor. But he also provided something that nobody expected. A sense of drama to his work.
While maintaining the offbeat sense of adventure that he's known for, he's managed to stay true to the main themes, social commentary and moral dilemmas, that the best Xmen writers have pulled off for years. Human drama. He's done all that and it's bound to show up in The Avengers next year.
In 2005 he started what has become one of the most successful ongoing Xmen titles in years: The Astonishing Xmen. He's managed to bring all his experiences in film production to the pages of a popular comic, monthly deadlines, maintaining plotlines, juggling and developing a large cast and his sense of humor. But he also provided something that nobody expected. A sense of drama to his work.
While maintaining the offbeat sense of adventure that he's known for, he's managed to stay true to the main themes, social commentary and moral dilemmas, that the best Xmen writers have pulled off for years. Human drama. He's done all that and it's bound to show up in The Avengers next year.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Captain America Review
Plot: After seeing his best friend 'Bucky' (Sebastian Stan) shipped of to fight in the war, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) , constantly rejected by the military for his frailty, finally gets a chance to prove his worth as a soldier when he's chosen by U.S. army colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), Peggy Carter, an agent in British intelligence (Haley Atwell) and German scientist Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) for an experiment that could create the worlds first 'supersoldier', pitting him against Hydra (a special weapons branch of the SS) and its leader, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving). A man who has become such a threat, even Hitler wants to destroy him.
Review: Marvel Studios willingness to take risks choosing the right directors for it's tentpole films and the best actors for the title and supporting roles has become the most reliable highlights of their films. First, a burned out actor looking for second shot (Robert Downey Jr.) as Iron Man, a relatively unknown Australian actor (Chris Hemsworth) in the title role of Thor and now a mostly disregarded actor, Chris Evans. And once again the risk pays off.
When Chris Evans was hired, like a lot of people, I was a little surprised and extremely skeptical when Marvel insisted he was the perfect man for the job. Nothing he's done to date has ever been on this scale, or been this popular. It was a risk he'd never taken. When the movie had finished principal photography, Evans stated that he'd turned down the role twice, he was afraid of screwing it up. He throws himself into this role and it shows. From his first scene to the closing of the film (and the trailer following the credits), Evans' performance as Steve embodies everything that has made this character popular for nearly seven decades (and many of the film classic characters of that era), from the weakling with an unshakeable sense of right and wrong, a powerful young man second guessing his decisions and his place in the world to a soldier with levels of courage that outstrip any common sense, running head first into the gunfire. Evans manages the difficult task of keeping Rogers from becoming a one note character perfectly, avoiding a flag waving cliche (you won't be humming the theme to Team America) and keeping him emotionally grounded in reality. The man behind the hero. He pulled off most of his own stunts to make sure people knew it wasn't a stunt double and hired a personal trainer to get the right physique for the part.
While keeping the movie pretty squarely on its title character, the film provides a fantastic range of memorable supporting characters and talented actors to flesh out the story. Hugo Weaving pulls off another perfect villainous foil for the hero with the Red Skull/Schmidt (maybe he snapped during the exhaustive hours in the makeup chair getting Johan Schmidt's trademark look right). He's evil, arrogant, decisive and, unlike the other Marvel villains so far, has no problem showing his madness. It's easy to tell that Weaving enjoyed every line! Everything about him is done so well that he might as well have walked off the pages of the comics themselves. Haley Atwell's performance provides the boldest, most independent love interest of any Marvel film so far. While holding her own in all the action and in a heavily male environment, she adds a lot of depth to Peggy when she slowly opens up to Steve about her own doubts and fears, giving Steve someone else to lean on. Sebastian Stan's performance as James Buchanan (Bucky) Barnes provides the only departure from the original origin story. In the comics Bucky was a tried-and-true 'sidekick', never really growing out of that one note role until he was reintroduced into the comics a few years ago. Following that more recent tone, Bucky's personality is on equal footing with Steve the entire time and despite his best friends frailty, you never get the feeling the Bucky feel superior to Steve. The two of them growing up as orphans, Bucky is more like an older brother. Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones play my favorite roles in the movie. Jones provides the only straightforward humor in the movie and his deadpan delivery of every line is hilarious! Tucci, despite who little you see him on screen, provides the heart of the movie and becomes a big moral compass for Steve as the movie goes along. He's a quiet, unassuming father figure through and through and his role feels too short in spite of the necessity of its short length.
Looking at Joe Johnston's career, from visual effects work on sciencefiction classics like the original StarWars trilogy and Indian Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark to his directorial debut on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (it's still a great family film) through his last movie, The Wolfman, with themes ranging from period pieces such as October Sky and Hildalgo to fun fantasy stories like Jumanji, (he even made Jurassic Park 3 worth watching), to a fantastic hybrid of the two, The Rocketeer, an amalgamation of World War 2 and pure sciencefiction, he's done good films and quality work, but he's never been a household name. Captain America may have changed that. And looking at his resume, his career may have been leading up to this. He sets the tone for the movie perfectly as high stakes, science fiction period piece that just happens to have a superhero in it. And while providing breathless, high octane action (I flinch every time someone gets hit with the shield), his focus on the quieter moments and the character development draw you in and make the adventure feel more important while still maintaining a sense of fun.
In the end: I may be biased because I'm a longtime comics fan, World War 2 history buff and love a good action-adventure story, but this is probably the best comic movie of the summer and possibly even better than the first Iron Man.
Grade: A+
Review: Marvel Studios willingness to take risks choosing the right directors for it's tentpole films and the best actors for the title and supporting roles has become the most reliable highlights of their films. First, a burned out actor looking for second shot (Robert Downey Jr.) as Iron Man, a relatively unknown Australian actor (Chris Hemsworth) in the title role of Thor and now a mostly disregarded actor, Chris Evans. And once again the risk pays off.
When Chris Evans was hired, like a lot of people, I was a little surprised and extremely skeptical when Marvel insisted he was the perfect man for the job. Nothing he's done to date has ever been on this scale, or been this popular. It was a risk he'd never taken. When the movie had finished principal photography, Evans stated that he'd turned down the role twice, he was afraid of screwing it up. He throws himself into this role and it shows. From his first scene to the closing of the film (and the trailer following the credits), Evans' performance as Steve embodies everything that has made this character popular for nearly seven decades (and many of the film classic characters of that era), from the weakling with an unshakeable sense of right and wrong, a powerful young man second guessing his decisions and his place in the world to a soldier with levels of courage that outstrip any common sense, running head first into the gunfire. Evans manages the difficult task of keeping Rogers from becoming a one note character perfectly, avoiding a flag waving cliche (you won't be humming the theme to Team America) and keeping him emotionally grounded in reality. The man behind the hero. He pulled off most of his own stunts to make sure people knew it wasn't a stunt double and hired a personal trainer to get the right physique for the part.
While keeping the movie pretty squarely on its title character, the film provides a fantastic range of memorable supporting characters and talented actors to flesh out the story. Hugo Weaving pulls off another perfect villainous foil for the hero with the Red Skull/Schmidt (maybe he snapped during the exhaustive hours in the makeup chair getting Johan Schmidt's trademark look right). He's evil, arrogant, decisive and, unlike the other Marvel villains so far, has no problem showing his madness. It's easy to tell that Weaving enjoyed every line! Everything about him is done so well that he might as well have walked off the pages of the comics themselves. Haley Atwell's performance provides the boldest, most independent love interest of any Marvel film so far. While holding her own in all the action and in a heavily male environment, she adds a lot of depth to Peggy when she slowly opens up to Steve about her own doubts and fears, giving Steve someone else to lean on. Sebastian Stan's performance as James Buchanan (Bucky) Barnes provides the only departure from the original origin story. In the comics Bucky was a tried-and-true 'sidekick', never really growing out of that one note role until he was reintroduced into the comics a few years ago. Following that more recent tone, Bucky's personality is on equal footing with Steve the entire time and despite his best friends frailty, you never get the feeling the Bucky feel superior to Steve. The two of them growing up as orphans, Bucky is more like an older brother. Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones play my favorite roles in the movie. Jones provides the only straightforward humor in the movie and his deadpan delivery of every line is hilarious! Tucci, despite who little you see him on screen, provides the heart of the movie and becomes a big moral compass for Steve as the movie goes along. He's a quiet, unassuming father figure through and through and his role feels too short in spite of the necessity of its short length.
Looking at Joe Johnston's career, from visual effects work on sciencefiction classics like the original StarWars trilogy and Indian Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark to his directorial debut on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (it's still a great family film) through his last movie, The Wolfman, with themes ranging from period pieces such as October Sky and Hildalgo to fun fantasy stories like Jumanji, (he even made Jurassic Park 3 worth watching), to a fantastic hybrid of the two, The Rocketeer, an amalgamation of World War 2 and pure sciencefiction, he's done good films and quality work, but he's never been a household name. Captain America may have changed that. And looking at his resume, his career may have been leading up to this. He sets the tone for the movie perfectly as high stakes, science fiction period piece that just happens to have a superhero in it. And while providing breathless, high octane action (I flinch every time someone gets hit with the shield), his focus on the quieter moments and the character development draw you in and make the adventure feel more important while still maintaining a sense of fun.
In the end: I may be biased because I'm a longtime comics fan, World War 2 history buff and love a good action-adventure story, but this is probably the best comic movie of the summer and possibly even better than the first Iron Man.
Grade: A+
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